Having allowed http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 to virtually bat them out of the game in the first innings with a mammoth 584-9 declared and then having already lost a wicket by the end of the second day’s play Pakistan’s new-look test side had it all to do on the third day
of the second test at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi. Considering South Africa’s balanced bowling attack, the Pakistanis would never have thought their job would be easy.
As is the pattern with Pakistani batsmen, opener Taufeeq Umar got out softly having done all the hard work, after featuring in a good 117-run stand with Azhar Ali, who has been Pakistan’s most dependable youngster this year.
While Azhar Ali was fending off bouncers and hitting sweetly timed shots off both the front and back foots, Younis Khan seemed unusually restless at the other end. His time at the crease was put to an end, again not as much by bowling or fielding brilliance
but by his own lack of application, as he spooned to Amla at cover off the bowling of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Dale-c52110 Steyn.
Azhar Ali who has been great for Pakistan in tests this year, if perhaps a bit too slow even for the shortest format of the game, had meanwhile been playing beautifully, but he too bowed to temptation. Only three runs after Younis’ dismissal, Azhar drove
a Steyn delivery outside the off stump as well to Smith at mid-off. His eventual score was 90, and it has to be said that it was only a lapse in concentration that prevented the deserving youngster to get to his first Test hundred.
Azhar and Younis’ quick dismissal meant that Pakistan who required a huge 385 to prevent follow-on, were teetering on the brink of another one of their famed batting collapses. However debutant Asad Shafiq showed no signs of nerves in his first-ever test
innings to give his team some confidence. Against the spinners he was nimble-footed on most occasions, rocking onto the back foot and slapping anything remotely short on either side of the wicket, while showing good footwork to smother the spin on any well-flighted
delivery. Asad was the main run-getter in the partnership as for most part of his 105-run stand with captain Misbah ul Haq, the latter just looked to block everything.
During the course of his innings, Asad Shafiq became the 20th Pakistani batsman to make a half century on debut. He eventually got out late in the day edging Paul Harris to Kallis in the slips, which was the right reward for Harris who had been
brilliant for South Africa all through the day.
By that time, Misbah had started playing some truly glorious shots which was a welcome change from his snail-like scoring pace earlier in the innings. He hit an out-of-sorts http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Johan-Botha-c67173 for three boundaries in one over and played a fine square drive off
Morkel to signal his intentions. Harris caused Pakistan more misery just three overs before the end of the play, as he broke the partnership between wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal and skipper Misbah ul Haq, which had looked set to steer Pakistan to the end of the
day without further damage, as he dismissed Akmal for 17. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 did manage not to lose another wicket as they ended the day on 317 for 6 with Misbah not out on 77.
Needing a further 68 runs to avoid the follow-on which South Africa might enforce if they get the chance, Pakistan will need their captain Misbah to be at his best tomorrow.
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